The words rang clear, cutting through the heavy silence like a blade.
Bai Zihan raised an eyebrow.
He hadn’t expected Bai Xinyue to challenge him—not now, not .
"You want to fight me?"
He asked, his voice low.
Bai Xinyue nodded, her eyes unwavering.
Bai Zihan studied her for a moment longer.
(I don’t think this is about revenge... or is it?)
He was confused. Although his earlier words might’ve sounded provocative, they weren’t enough to justify a battle.
Perhaps... She just wanted a fight?
Her gaze didn’t carry malice, nor did it feel like a grudge.
Anyway, since it seems like after Yue Wushuang has intervened, the war between Bai and Li-Zhao Clan is going to be stopped, there is no need to decline her.
"All right, If that’s what you want, then I’ll show you the difference between us."
Everyone watched with rapt attention.
On one side stood a prodigy so promising that even a top-tier sect like the Flowing Moon Sect had come personally to claim her.
On the other—a genius in his own right, who had played with some of the Empire’s strongest cultivators and walked away unscathed.
While many still believed Bai Xinyue would be the eventual victor, they couldn’t deny Bai Zihan’s presence.
Yue Wushuang watched silently, intrigued.
She wanted to see for herself how far Bai Xinyue had grown—and just how dangerous this so-called "waste" named Bai Zihan truly was.
Bai Xinyue raised her qi.
The sword in her hand trembled as if resonating with her heart, its blade gleaming like a celestial star.
Her cultivation surged to its peak—Spirit Severing Realm—unleashed without reservation.
Her robes fluttered violently in the storm of her own power.
She dashed forward like a shooting star.
Bai Zihan stood motionless.
Then, without a word—
He drew his Eternal Spirit Sword.
Their blades collided in a flash of light.
Sparks flew as sword qi lashed out in every direction, shockwaves rippling outward like thunderclaps.
The ground beneath them cracked, a spiderweb of shattered earth spreading outward.
Dust and debris were hurled into the sky.
Their swords met again and again—swift, precise, merciless.
Neither side yielded an inch.
Bai Xinyue’s strikes were sharp, elegant, and fluid—each motion refined to near perfection.
The Sword Technique she’d inherited from the Immortal Emperor trial flowed through her body.
Bai Zihan wasn’t losing in technique.
If anything, his swordplay was even more terrifying.
His movements were subtle, minimal—wasting no effort.
Each parry, each slash, each step—carried the weight of mastery.
It was not the cultivation realm that shocked the crowd—
It was the fact that he was matching her blow for blow.
Spirit Severing Realm versus Soul Formation Realm!
And yet, Bai Zihan was not only holding his ground—he seemed to have upper hand.
Yue Wushuang’s expression darkened slightly.
(This boy... how is he standing equal to someone with the Phoenix Physique and a Dao Bone?)
Someone with Bai Xinyue’s constitution could easily overpower those above her level.
And yet here she was—unable to gain a meaningful advantage over someone technically a realm below her.
That alone spoke volumes.
"We don’t have time to waste," Bai Zihan said quietly, his tone calm. "I’ll get serious now!"
Suddenly, his sword began to emit a sharp resonance.
The air itself trembled.
A piercing pressure began to surge outward from his blade.
Yue Wushuang’s pupils shrank.
"What...? Sword Intent?"
She couldn’t hide the shock in her voice.
As a sword cultivator herself, how could she not recognize that will?
One needed years—decades—of dedication to the sword to even have a chance at grasping Sword Intent.
Talent alone wasn’t enough.
Even she, Yue Wushuang—considered a genius throughout Central Glorious Continent—had taken thirty years to comprehend the basics of Sword Intent.
A youth not even seventeen had achieved it?
No matter how many praises or accomplishments Qinglan listed about Bai Zihan, nothing had truly impressed Yue Wushuang.
To her, he was just another talented youth from the Desolate Heaven Empire.
Sword Intent, at just sixteen years old?
That was beyond being a mere genius of the Middle Ranked Empire.
Of course, she wasn’t the only one who noticed.
"Bai Zihan has Sword Intent?!"
The murmurs spread like wildfire.
Bai Zihan’s sword surged with Sword Intent, and the awe it inspired was palpable among the crowd.
Gasps echoed across the battlefield.
Bai Xinyue, however, didn’t react as strongly as the others—mainly because she didn’t fully understand how difficult it was to achieve such a thing.
But just from the aura alone, she could tell: Bai Zihan wasn’t bluffing when he said he’d get serious.
(He was hiding something all along?)
When facing someone like her—someone with superior talent and a higher cultivation realm—any normal cultivator would go all out from the start.
But Bai Zihan was different.
He hadn’t used his full strength until now.
"I see," Bai Xinyue said coldly, her eyes narrowing. "Then I’ll hold back no longer either."
Her Qi surged once more, rising to its true peak.
Golden-red flames burst from her back like wings of divine fire, forming the illusory outline of a Divine Phoenix.
It wasn’t fully formed, but the majesty was unmistakable.
The air around her distorted under the immense pressure, and every step she took scorched the ground beneath.
Her Dao Bone began to shine.
Normally invisible, the Dao Bone now revealed itself as golden veins of light running through her limbs and spine, pulsing with her heartbeat.
The sword in her hand trembled in resonance.
As if awakened by the Dao flowing through her very bones.
A faint Dao resonance filled the battlefield, subtle yet suffocating, as if the laws of the world were being stirred by her existence.
The sky itself seemed to react.
Clouds churned, a subtle wind swept across the ruined battlefield, and spiritual Qi gathered wildly around her.
Bai Zihan Sword Intent surged in response.
His Eternal Spirit Sword hummed, answering the pressure not with fear, but eagerness.
As if it, too, longed for a worthy opponent.
For a moment, silence reigned.
A blinding arc of light tore through the battlefield, a brilliant crescent that split the sky in two.
For a heartbeat, time seemed to stop.
The force of their clash sent shockwaves howling in all directions, tearing apart what little remained of the ruined earth beneath their feet.
Dust exploded outward, and space itself seemed to ripple under the weight of the collision.
Everyone shielded their eyes.
A storm of Qi engulfed the battlefield. Sword Intent clashed with Phoenix Flame and Dao Resonance.
The two figures stood at the heart of it all.
Both of them were still standing!